A story of the coming of Paul and Jadwiga is told
among the old fishermen of the Lake Erie shore, at Dunkirk. Their tellings carry
the haunting tone and phrases of legend. It is the kind of story people repeat when
they don't recall the exact truth, or never knew it, or think it tells better their way. As wondrous as the legend
may be, there is a truth, and I tell it here. I know the truth, for my
father told it to me. And he told it to me as he heard it from Paul, and, when he
asked her, from Jadwiga herself.
It is a story of young dreams and young love.
It is a story of those dreams, and that love, and what they
can achieve.
It is Paul's story, Jadwiga's story, and the story of their
coming to America.